Quick note before the post begins: The world may have me, but New York has my heart, today and every day. We’re never forgetting.

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The best diving in Europe. Unmatched in the Mediterranean. That was just some of the hope-lifting praise I’d read and heard for the dive sites ringing Malta and Gozo. And considering I was there visiting a dive instructor who’d been raving to me about the quality of his new offshore office, there was a lot to be lived up to.

I was itching to get in the water by the time we took a little road trip over to Gozo, our trunk loaded with tanks and dive gear. Our destination? Two of the island’s most famous underwater attractions — the Inland Sea and The Blue Hole.

Normally, they are completed as two separate dives. But as a divemaster and an instructor working in the area, both extremely comfortable in the water and good on air (for non-divers, that means we breathe through our tanks slowly and can stay underwater longer), we felt comfortable visiting both sites on one dive. We’d enter through the Inland Sea, swim along the coastal wall, and ascend through the Blue Hole.

We nabbed as close a parking spot as we could manage, suited up on the pavement, and waddled our way down to the Inland Sea.

There, Anders dropped our car keys with an ice cream vendor he’d made friends with, and we started preparing to descend. I hadn’t been diving in the Mediterranean since a trip to Ibiza many moons ago and I was anxious to see how this highly-hyped destination would compare.

We began our dive by cautiously making our way into the narrow channel, watching for boat traffic overhead.

It wasn’t long before we hit open ocean. Thus far I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the water temperature was — I was feeling fine in a 7mm wetsuit.

Visibility was good but frankly, there wasn’t much sealife to be seen. That did make the sightings we did have — like a flowing jellyfish — all the more special, and in the meantime we enjoyed the watching the waves crash dramatically into the wall as we moved along the edge of the ocean.

Eventually, Anders signaled to me that we had reached our destination — we were at the Blue Hole, one of Europe’s most famous dive sites. I could see why. The topography was like a diver’s playground with swim-throughs, arches, and shallow caves to explore.

Despite stretching two dives into one and taking our sweet time doing it, we surfaced long before hitting low air. Nope, I had finally given into my teeth — I have a receding gumline, and I was experiencing shooting pains from the regulator rubbing against my biteline. I vowed to get to a dentist as soon as I hit Bangkok (and I did!), but in the meantime, I just kind of dangled the reg halfway out of my mouth like I was trying to dive and chew gum at the same time. Ain’t nothing keepin’ this girl out of the water.

As we made our way towards the entrance to the Blue Hole, Anders indicated that we were passing under the infamous Azure Window. My eyes crinkled with a smile, seeing such a notorious landmark from such a completely original angle.

The hardest part of diving the Blue Hole? Walking back to the parking lot over those sharp rocks with a full set of gear and weights! But it was worth every labored step. While there wasn’t an overwhelming number of fish to admire, the topography alone would have kept the reg dangling out of my mouth (had my dental issues not been doing so already). The Blue Hole indeed blew me away.

But my Maltese diving adventures weren’t over. A few days later, I tagged along with Anders at , his employer on the island. This time, we were headed to shore dive in Ċirkewwa harbor. One sign of how seriously Malta takes its scuba industry? There’s a special driving lane dedicated parking for divers.

We were spending the morning diving two separate wrecks in the harbor. With Anders busy with his students, I was free to flit about with my camera as I pleased — my favorite way to dive. Unfortunately on the first dive my camera decided to seek revenge for an unidentified wrong I committed against it and fogged irreparably. By the second dive we were friends again and the camera behaved beautifully.

I really enjoyed both wrecks. While the bottom time was short due to the depths the ships are sitting at, they are impressive nonetheless. And I was just as engaged, if not more, by the shallow reefs on the way back to the shore. The sealife I had been missing the previous day in Gozo? It was all hiding here!

In fact, this octopus encounter was the best I’ve ever had in all my time diving. After almost spitting out my reg in excitement over spotting him (check out that camouflage in the top photo!) we eyed each other for quite some time.

And once I dragged myself away from the octo, there were even more swim-throughs, more shallow caves, and more inviting beds of sea grass to admire.

I ascended a happy diver. In just three (or four, kind of!) dives, I’d experienced some of the very best Malta had to offer. Haunted wrecks, curious cephalopods, glorious sunshine to surface to and some of the most noteworthy topography I’ve seen anywhere in the world.

Bottom line — don’t come to Malta without getting some bottom time in the Mediterranean Sea! And I can’t recommend more highly for when you do. They hire some darn cute instructors (Who, me? Biased?).

I am totally loving these Malta posts Meihoukai! Although I am not a diver I always look forward to reading your dive posts as it opens up a side to the planet that I am not yet privy to. You have definitely ignited a desire to dive and while I can’t see it being realised for a while its posts like these that hit home that I should make a conscious effort for it to be sooner rather than later!

As I sit in a rainstorm in what should be sunny Cancun, I’m swooning over your gorgeous days in Malta! LOVELY photos too. I really enjoyed the black and white and look at that depth of field you were able to capture with that jelly fish!Emily from Let’s Roam Wild recently posted..

Love the new site Meihoukai! I busy building a new one as well, can’t wait. This post seriously made me want to get out there and dive. I am working on being more confident in the water. Any tips for how to relax while diving?

Practice practice practice! I don’t know if there’s anything but experience that will make you truly comfortable and confident underwater. Having a buddy and dive guide/instructor you trust definitely help too!

Your underwater photos are always so clear! On my last dive my new gopro fogged up and I got almost nothing on our second dive 🙁 we also did some land dives for the first time – it’s weird not jumping off a boat! haha!Katie recently posted..

Camera fogging is seriously one of my greatest annoyances in this life. It makes me so mad, I almost want to close my eyes so I don’t see anything cool and have to regret not being able to photograph it!

No, they really didn’t. I knew nothing of Malta’s history before arriving and was shocked to hear how ravaged this tiny island was during that war. Did you see my Gozo post — there was an old WW2 bunker converted into an art gallery. Loved it!

Nice UW shots, I also like the octopus, kinda like the Beatles ‘In an octopus’ garden in the shade’! So diving in Malta vs. Koh Tao. What is the water temp in Malta? I will likely never get there, but you never know!

FYI, your post is not opening from mail, and the link to your site is broke… The new site looks good! I like the layout, white on white is easy on the eyes but a bit drab.

I am glad you are enjoying you travels, I am also enjoying your travels!

You know, I am terrible at remembering water temperatures! I don’t really have a good sense of it, like if someone says something was X degrees it means nothing to me — I just ask what kind of wetsuit I’ll need ha. So I don’t retain the information whatsoever. And thanks for the tip on the email subscription, I will go take a look!

I always enjoy your posts, but I especially love your diving posts and this was no exception. I hadn’t honestly given much thought to diving in Europe figuring the cost and the cold would make it a less attractive proposition to other parts of the world, but now I see how wrong I was. I would LOVE to see an octopus, but even more than that, the diving around Malta really looks spectacular. We haven’t made it there yet, but whenever we do, I’ll be sure to make sure we put plenty of dive days on the itinerary!Steph (@ 20 Years Hence) recently posted..

The cost can definitely be a shock if you’re used to Southeast Asia diving 🙂 But Malta would be a good place to start because there are so many shore diving options (always cheaper) and the temperature wasn’t bad at all! I’m a pretty warm water wuss, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was fretting for nothing.

Thank you! Sometimes black and white is the only way to save an image if it was taken at a really deep depth. I don’t have an off camera flash and so the colors can be so distorted that editing is the only option 🙂

Despite the fact that you didn’t see a ton of sea life during the first dive, I love the photos of the floating jellyfish. Oh, and the octopus is beautiful! I would have stared at him forever too 🙂 For some reason I find myself raving about every photo you post of an octopus!Justine recently posted..

You are my new dive inspiration! I just got my open water certification this past year in Australia (on Lord Howe Island – which, not that I have much to compare it to, I thought was awesome diving), and I love it! I definitely need to work on going through my air slower – I feel so guilty when I’m the one making everyone else go up.

Scrolling through these photos (all of them, but especially the octopus!!) got me really antsy to get out diving again. Sadly, I don’t think there’s much to be found off the coast of Virginia.Karen @ Lots of Sheep recently posted..

Loooove the underwater topography, the swim throughs look very cool. And octopus, yeahhhhh! Actually found my first daytime octopus (ie. not on a night dive) a few weeks before I left for Canada and I was ridiculously excited.

But, um, a SEVEN MIL? Not sure I’d be down with that, what was the water temp?Rika | Cubicle Throwdown recently posted..

I have no idea about the temperature (as mentioned elsewhere in the comments, I NEVER retain that information because temperature numbers mean nothing to me for some reason! Every time I look at the weather I’m asking people to translate it into what kind of clothes I need to wear…) and Google is giving me a huge variety of answers. Let me ask Anders and get back to you 🙂

The coolest thing I have seen when diving was a small octopus swimming away from me in Dahab and I have only been diving 4 times. Stunning photos as usual 🙂Katie @ The World on my Necklace recently posted..

looks like fun! I kept picturing things as I read it which lead to a lot of picturing ander’s making signals for things like “blue window” or whatnot. Is santorini the Mediterranean? if so, then yes i’ve dived there! but it was my first and only time.Rachel of Hippie in Heels recently posted..

I heart your diving posts, even though I don’t feel I have much to contribute to the conversation. I have enjoyed my daily snorkeling jaunts here in Ibiza. Clear, warm, shallow water is such a treat coming from cold, murky california. A friend actually spotted a bunch of baby octos the other day but no such luck for me. I shall keep on searching…Becky Hutner recently posted..

I’m pretty curious about scuba diving and have actually taken a Discover class in a pool, but I’m quite terrified of jellyfish. Your photos of them give me hope though! If you’re down there taking such beautiful images of them, they must not be all that bad?! Maybe I’ll actually end up trying a dive in the ocean next time.Susan recently posted..

I did my first swim throughs on this trip, including the chimney in Koh Tao (!), and am now thoroughly in love with them! It really does add another dimension to what is already an amazing activity.
Love the thought of you and Anders in full gear rushing down to the sea- such dedication!

Wow, that’s some far better diving than I ever expected out of the Med! We opted not to waste our time diving during our recent three-week trip to the area simply due to a lack of sealife, but if ever we are in Malta, I’ll be sure and get my fins wet!Camels & Chocolate recently posted..

Timing is everything! On my first trip to the Med I was on a cruise so only one day on each Greek island… so no, same thing, didn’t want to waste the time. This trip though I had lots more time to play with and dove in both Malta and Santorini, and was pleasantly surprised by both!

Hey Meihoukai!
I checked out your obsessions page for more information about your underwater camera equipment, thanks for the help. 🙂 Do you use any filters on your camera housing to minimize the loss of color in the deeper depths? Your photos are so colorful!Krystle recently posted..

I saw my first wild octopus on a shallow night dive last month in Fiji – it was so amazing! Maybe two feet across from tentacle tip to tentacle tip, and so graceful in its movement. It didn’t really like us hovering around, and inked at us – which was excellent as well! It’s interesting to see how differently liquids behave in other liquids. We avoided it easily, luckily – I wouldn’t have wanted to be cleaning ink off later.

I’m just getting into diving myself, and loving every minute. I can’t wait to see more of the underwater world. 🙂

Do it!! 🙂 People keep telling me that learning to dive in Fiji means I’m ruined for diving everywhere else haha. But there’s so much to see! I went on my first wreck dive on the weekend, it was excellent. I really want to get to the Bligh Water, but I think I need to get a bit more experienced first.

I’ll be here until February, so if you do make it here this year, I’d love to go diving with you. 😉Martina recently posted..

Just found your Malta post and I really liked it.
Going there in September with my boyfriend for the first time. So excited!!
We want to go diving there. (I never tried, but my boyfriend has a license). Can you recommend a diving company? Or is your friend Anders still working there?

I'm a New York native who left my home to explore the world slowly and thoroughly. I’m just a little obsessed with photography, scuba diving, and reading guidebooks to countries I have no immediate plans to visit.